Virtual collaboration with multiple degrees of availability

ABSTRACT

A virtual collaboration system provides communication between a plurality of participants via a collaboration session that includes a corresponding plurality of participant devices. The collaboration session facilitates communication between the participant devices via a plurality of communication channels over which the participants communicate. For example, in some embodiments, the channels include one or more of a video channel, audio channel, or document sharing channel. A participant designates in which of the plurality of channels they will participate, and the designations are communicated to other participants. This provides a broader understanding of each participant&#39;s circumstances and ability to engage across the different channels with the plurality of participants.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to virtual/online collaboration systems.

BACKGROUND

The transition to remote work, especially during a time when “work time”and “home life time” overlap extensively, has brought on new challengesfor people attending online meetings or, in other words, virtualcollaboration. Employees are more frequently integrating their personallives with their work lives. The result of this is that employeesparticipate in virtual collaboration sessions from a variety ofenvironments or contexts. Employees may be located in a home office, butalternatively may be rocking a sleeping baby, traveling on a train, ordriving their children to school. Improving the operation of virtualcollaboration environments is important for the success of the globaleconomy going forward, especially given trends toward remote work. Thesetrends are further exacerbated by an increasing need to reduce densityof employees within office spaces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an overview diagram showing a collaboration system inaccordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram similar to FIG. 1 , and showing channelparticipation information flowing from a participant device to otherparticipant devices, in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 3A shows a first message format in accordance with an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 3B shows a second message format in accordance with an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a table showing collaboration participation modes defined bycombinations of channel participation settings in accordance with anexample embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a user interface displaying channel participation informationfor a plurality of participants in accordance with an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a user interface screen showing display of a meetinginvitation acceptance that includes channel participation information,in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method of communicating channel participationinformation in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a hardware block diagram of a device that may performfunctions associated with operations discussed herein in connection withthe techniques depicted in any one or more of FIGS. 1-7 .

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Overview

A collaboration system provides an ability for participants of acollaboration session to indicate in which of a plurality ofcommunication channels they will participate. In one form, a methodincludes scheduling or initiating a collaboration session with aplurality of participants, the collaboration session configured to shareinformation with a corresponding plurality of participant devices via aplurality of channels. The method includes receiving, from a firstparticipant device of the plurality of participant devices, anindication of participation, by a first participant associated with thefirst participant device, in each of the plurality of channels. Themethod further includes providing, to a second participant device of theplurality of participant devices, the indication of participation, bythe first participant, in each of the plurality of channels, the secondparticipant device associated with a second participant.

EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments are presented herein to communicate to participants of avirtual collaboration session how a particular participant willparticipate with respect to a plurality of channels of communicationfacilitated by the virtual collaboration session. A virtualcollaboration session is an online or web-based collaboration session(e.g., meeting, conference, etc.) that is supported over one or morenetworks.

The disclosed embodiments recognize challenges associated with attendingvirtual collaboration sessions, which can occur at almost any time ofthe day and night. This results in a greying of the line between worktime and personal time. In some circumstances, a participant is able tojoin a virtual collaboration session but, due to personal circumstances,is limited to only “listening in.” For example, in some circumstances,the participant is located within a noisy environment, where verballycommunicating during the collaboration session risks injecting a largeamount of noise into the audio stream. Due to a concern that they mightbe asked to speak during the collaboration session, the participantinstead may decide not to join the virtual collaboration session. Thus,the potential participant misses out on content provided during thevirtual collaboration session. This could negatively affect their,and/or their teams, productivity.

As another example, Bob needs to join his manager's team meeting via hiscell phone/ear buds to hear updates from the team, but he is also caringfor his one-year-old child. The child is having a bad day and crying alot. If Bob goes off-mute, the crying child might disrupt the meeting,thus, Bob decides not to join at all.

As a third example, Calbo needs to walk to pick up his child fromschool, and must walk down a busy street with substantial traffic. Thenoise from the road would prevent Calbo's audio from being capturedclearly, but Calbo would be able to listen to the meeting as itprogressed. However, there is no way to indicate this status to otherparticipants.

In a fourth example, Reynaldo is on an airplane and wants to attend ameeting, but the batteries for his headphones are depleted. Reynaldo isunable to listen to the meeting on his speakerphone as doing so isagainst airline policy, but he would be able to watch a live demo beingshown via video, especially since the collaboration system providesclosed captioning of other participants audio inputs, allowing him tofollow along and stay up-to-date with the discussion of the meeting.However, Reynaldo cannot risk be called upon to respond, as there is noway for him to do so, and thus does not attend the meeting.

As a final example, Jeremy is driving his car while dialed into ameeting. He can listen-in, and also talk back but he is unable to viewany presentation as doing so would distract him from having his eyes onthe road.

Thus, due to a variety of environmental factors, in many situations aparticipant of a meeting may not be able to fully engage in everycommunication channel that a virtual collaboration session provides,such as a bi-directional audio channel, a bi-directional video channel,or screen/content sharing. A participant is thus able to engage in onlya subset of the communication channels. With current solutions, thecollaboration host and/or active presenter, along with otherparticipants, are unaware of any limitations a particular participanthas on their ability to fully participate. Some solutions provide iconsindicating when a participant is utilizing a video conferencing endpointor attending a collaboration session via a cell phone—allowingparticipants to see the type of device they are connected to the sessionwith. However, generally, indications of a participant's ability toparticipate in multiple communication channels is not provided. Somesolutions remove background noise from audio, but unfortunately,removing background noise is of little assistance when a user simplycannot speak effectively in the collaboration session because of theirenvironment. For example, if an attendee does not want to wake up anearby sleeping baby, removing background noise from their audio doesnot solve that problem.

Because of the limitations in existing solutions, some potentialparticipants choose instead not to attend a collaboration session thatthey otherwise would have attended, because they do not have aneffective way to signal to others what capacity they have to participatein that session. Some participants fear potentially being called on whenthey cannot speak, or asked a question about the presentation which theycould not see. This very real fear is limiting and prevents would-beparticipants from actually participating in the collaboration session tothe extent that they can.

The disclosed embodiments take a step towards making a virtualcollaboration experience better than in-person meetings in a largevariety of situations. For example, participants may find themselves ina variety of circumstances, such as, the participant can observe video,and can listen to an audio channel, but is unable to speak. For example,if the participant is riding a very busy, and loud, train, theirspeaking abilities may be compromised, but they can observe the meetingvia their mobile device, and can listen to an audio channel via wired orwireless headphones (e.g., pod type headphones or over the earheadphones).

In other circumstances, a participant is able to observe video, and canlisten to an audio channel, and can also speak, but the quality of anyspeech generated by the participant is degraded. For example, if aparticipant is located in an environment that includes a sleepingindividual, such as their spouse or a baby, the participant prefers toremain silent while participating in the meeting, but if absolutelynecessary, would be able to communicate verbally. In some othercircumstances, a participant is able to observe video, but is unable toparticipate in any audio channels, in that they cannot hear audio, norare they able to contribute verbally. In some other circumstances, aparticipant is unable to observe video presentation of a collaborationsession, but is able to hear audio of the collaboration and verballycommunicate with other collaboration participants. For example, theparticipant may be in a vehicle listening to the collaboration session,and they are able to respond, but it would be potentially dangerous forthe participant to watch a presentation video. In other circumstances, aparticipant is unable to share screen content or presentations. Forexample, a participant may be on a mobile device, or using an endpointthat does not have the presentation or otherwise cannot share theirscreen. Some embodiments provide a user interface control that allowsthe participant to indicate they are unable to share their screencontent or presentations. An indication of same is then presented toother participants within a collaboration session.

To compensate for the challenges discussed above (among others), thedisclosed embodiments provide a method for collaboration participants toadvertise their ability to communicate via a plurality of differentcommunication channels available in a collaboration session.

In some embodiments, a collaboration participant explicitly indicates(e.g., manually via a user interface) their ability to contribute orparticipate across a plurality of communication channels. Participationin this context includes either the generation of content (e.g. for aninput channel) or consumption of content (e.g. for an output channel)over a particular channel. A participant indicates this ability, in someembodiments, in a response to the meeting invite (before the meeting orcollaboration session begins), or when the participant joins the meetingor collaboration, or anytime during the collaboration when their abilityto contribute/participate changes. In some embodiments, a participantselects a duration during which they are able or unable to participatein a communication channel or alternatively, participate in a degradedstate. In some embodiments, the duration is set to be equivalent to anentire duration of the collaboration session. In some cases, if aparticipant indicates their ability to participate in at least onecommunication channel will be degraded for a finite period of time (e.g.five minutes), a host (or other participants) may choose to delay havingthe participant join the collaboration session until they are able tofully participate. The method may involve receiving an indication of aduration of time during which the indication of participation applies ormay apply, and an indication of the duration of participation may beprovided to another participant (via the other participant's device).

Some embodiments automatically detect, without human assistance, aparticipant's ability to contribute or participate. The automaticallydetected ability of a participant to participate is then communicated toother participants. For example, some embodiments detect a participant'scommunication ability based on environmental factors around the user.These include characteristics such as motion, background noise, ordetection of particular visual environments

As one example, some embodiments are configured to detect that a baby iscrying in the background or that a persistent loud noise is occurring.Under these circumstances, some embodiments suggest to the participantthat they accept a communication mode that disables audio input from theparticipant. Alternatively, instead of making a suggestion, someembodiments disable a participant's audio input channel without anyhuman involvement.

Some embodiments detect when a participant, and the device they areusing to participate in a collaboration session, is in motion (jogging,in a car, on a plane, etc.). Some embodiments then, without humaninvolvement, disable an audio input channel of the participant andprovide a visual notification of the participant's revised state toother collaboration participants. Some embodiments, based on detectedmotion, provide a visual notification that the participant is unable toobserve any videos or presentations which may be shared during thecollaboration session.

Some embodiments analyze an audio channel of the collaboration sessionand determine a primary language being spoken. In some of theseembodiments, a comparison between the primary language and one or morelanguages of a participant is performed. In some embodiments, the one ormore languages of the participant are obtained from a user profile ofthe participant, or alternatively, in some embodiments, via analysis ofone or more audio streams generated by the participant (e.g., inputaudio channel data). Based on the comparing, if the detected primarylanguage is not a language in which the collaboration session has arecord of a participant speaking or being competent in, thecollaboration system, in some embodiments, without human intervention,enables subtitling of the audio channel into a language of theparticipant that is determined to be a “native” language of theparticipant. Some embodiments disable a participant's input audiochannel when a comparison of the primary language and one or morelanguages of which the participant is competent detects a mismatchbetween the detected primary language and the one or more languages.

Thus, some of the disclosed embodiments account for the varyingabilities of different participants to contribute to a collaborationsession, and indicate to other participants those varying abilities. Aparticipant's ability to contribute can be modified during acollaboration session, as circumstances of the participants change.

FIG. 1 is an overview diagram illustrating a collaboration system 100 inaccordance with an example embodiment. FIG. 1 illustrates acollaboration server 102 in communication with a plurality ofparticipant devices, including a first participant device 104A, a secondparticipant device 104B, a third participant device 104C, and a fourthparticipant device 104D. FIG. 1 also illustrates communication betweeneach of the plurality of participant devices and the collaborationserver 102 via a plurality of channels. Channels are defined, in someembodiments, based on a type of information carried by the channel and adirection in which the information is carried. Each of the channelscarries information in a particular direction, e.g. either from theparticipant device to the collaboration server 102, or from thecollaboration server 102 to the participant device. The term “channel”in this context is not intended to be limiting (or to refer to aspecific/dedicated physical communication channel), and is instead meantto denote an indication of different types of information that flowbetween a participant device and the collaboration server 102, and adirection in which that information is flowing. The multiple channelsreferred to herein may be communicated over the physical communicationchannel (wired network paths, wireless network paths, etc.) A channel isindicated, in some embodiments, via an identifier, such as a predefinednumber, that is physically associated with data flowing over the channel(e.g. sharing a packet with said data).

In some embodiments, channels include input channels, which carryinformation from a participant device to the collaboration server 102,and output channels, which carry information from the collaborationserver 102 to a participant device. Different types of information arecarried on different types of channels. Thus, for example, variouschannels carry, in some embodiments, one or more of audio information,video information, chat information, or screen or content (e.g.,document) sharing information. Thus, some embodiments allocate an inputchannel and an output channel for one or more of these differentinformation types. Thus, some embodiments include one or more of anaudio input channel, audio output channel, video input channel, videooutput channel, document sharing input channel, screen sharing inputchannel, chat input channel, chat output channel, or other additionalchannels not included in this list. In some embodiments, an inputchannel and an output channel having an equivalent type of data arecombined and considered a single channel (e.g. an audio channel,carrying audio data in two directions, a video channel, including videodata flowing in two directions, a chat channel carrying chat data in twodirections, etc.).

Example of such channels are shown in FIG. 1 . For example, FIG. 1illustrates six channels of communication between the first participantdevice 104A and the collaboration server 102. The six channels includethree input channels, a video input channel 106A, an audio input channel106B, and a document or screen sharing input channel 106C. The sixchannels also include three output channels, a video output channel106D, an audio output channel 106E, and a document or screen sharingoutput channel 106F. FIG. 1 illustrates six channels of communicationbetween the second participant device 104B and the collaboration server102. The six channels include three input channels, a video inputchannel 108A, an audio input channel 108B, and a document or screensharing input channel 108C. The six channels also include three outputchannels, a video output channel 108D, an audio output channel 108E, anda document or screen sharing output channel 108F. FIG. 1 illustrates twochannels of communication between the third participant device 104C andthe collaboration server 102. The two channels include an audio inputchannel 110A, and an audio output channel 110C. The third participantdevice 104C has only two channels because it is a desk telephone thatdoes not support non-audio forms of communication. FIG. 1 illustratessix channels of communication between the fourth participant device 104Dand the collaboration server 102. The six channels include three inputchannels, a video input channel 112A, an audio input channel 112B, and adocument or screen sharing input channel 112C. The six channels alsoinclude three output channels, a video output channel 112D, an audiooutput channel 112E, and a document or screen sharing output channel112F.

As discussed above, embodiments of the collaboration server 102 providean ability to share participation information of a participant device(and/or an associated participant) with respect to each of the channelsof communication between the participant device and the collaborationserver 102 (e.g. which of the channels 108A-D is the participant and/orparticipant device engaged or otherwise participating). Participating inan input channel generally indicates a participant will generate dataover that input channel and provide the data to the collaboration server102. For example, participating in an audio input channel indicates theparticipant plans to speak or otherwise intentionally generate audiodata. Participating in an output channel generally indicates aparticipant plans to consume data provided by the channel. Thus, forexample, participating in a video output channel indicates theparticipant will make a best effort to view video provided by thechannel, or at least that the video will physically display on theparticipant's device. Indicating that a participant will not participatein a video output channel indicates the participant is unable to view ofotherwise unable to make a best effort to view video provided by thechannel.

Thus, the first participant device 104A communicates to thecollaboration server 102, whether or not the first participant device104A is going to provide, or intends to provide, data over the videoinput channel 106A, the audio input channel 106B, or the document orscreen sharing input channel 106C. The first participant device 104Aalso indicates, to the collaboration server 102, whether the participantand/or participant device will view or display data received over thevideo output channel 106D, whether the participant and/or participantdevice will play or listen to the audio output channel 106E, or viewdocuments or screens shared over the document or screen sharing outputchannel 106F.

The collaboration server 102 then distributes this information to otherparticipant devices and/or participants. For example, if the firstparticipant device 104A has indicated it is not providing data to theaudio input channel 106B, the collaboration server 102 indicates, on auser interface of the second participant device 104B, that the firstparticipant device 104A has selected to not provide said audio signal.As another example, the first participant device 104A indicates, in someembodiments, that it is unable to share document information over thedocument or screen sharing input channel 106C). Some embodiments thendisplay information to the second participant device 104B indicatingthat the first participant device 104A is unable to share documentinformation. This information is indicated, in some embodiments, by anicon or other graphical indicator visually proximate to (e.g. within apredefined distance of) a representation of the first participant device104A, or the first participant, on a user interface of the secondparticipant device 104B. In some embodiments, the first participantdevice 104A indicates that they are unable to view documents or screenshares via the document or screen sharing output channel 106F. Moredetails on how this information is displayed is provided in the examplesof FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 , discussed below.

FIG. 2 is a diagram similar to FIG. 1 , but showing channelparticipation information flowing from a participant device to otherparticipant devices, in accordance with an example embodiment. FIG. 2shows the collaboration server 102 of FIG. 1 either scheduling oractively hosting a collaboration session with the first participantdevice 104A, the second participant device 104B, the third participantdevice 104C, and the fourth participant device 104D. The secondparticipant device 104B is shown communicating channel participationinformation to the collaboration server 102. For example, the secondparticipant device 104B communicates a first channel participationindication 202A to the collaboration system. The first channelparticipation indication 202A indicates whether the second participantthat has established a collaboration session with the collaborationserver 102, via the second participant device 104B, will participate ina channel of the collaboration that corresponds to the first channelparticipation indication 202A. For example, the first channelparticipation indication 202A, indicates, in some embodiments, whetherthe second participant is able to speak, or otherwise generate an audiosignal during the collaboration. Note that such an indication isdistinguished from the second participant simply muting theirmicrophone, which indicates, instead, that the second participant haspaused generating/providing an audio signal, or disabled a device thatgenerates the audio signal. Muting a microphone, and an indication ofsame, is different than the indication 202A, which, as discussed aboveconveys an intent of the participant to participate in an audio inputchannel during a defined duration of time. The duration of timeincludes, in some embodiments, an entirety of the collaboration session.In some other embodiments, the defined duration of time is less than theentire duration of the collaboration session, but is instead some finitetime period (e.g., five minutes, ten minutes, etc.). The secondparticipant device 104B also provides a second channel participationindication 202B, a third channel participation indication 202C, a fourthchannel participation indication 202D, a fifth channel participationindication 202E, and a sixth channel participation indication 202F tothe collaboration server 102. Each of these participant indicationscorresponds to a different communication channel, for example, an inputchannel or an output channel, in combination with one of video, audio,document or screen sharing, chat, or other channel of the collaborationsession.

In response to receiving the channel participation information from thesecond participant device 104B, the collaboration server 102 selectivelydistributes the channel participation information of the secondparticipant device 104B to the other participant devices participatingin the collaboration session, including one or more of the firstparticipant device 104A, third participant device 104C, and fourthparticipant device 104D. For example, the collaboration server 102 isshown distributing the first channel participation indication 202A asindication 204A to the first participant device 104A, as indication 206Ato the third participant device 104C, and as indication 208A to thefourth participant device. Similarly, the second channel participationindication 202B is distributed, in some embodiments, as indication 204Bto the first participant device 104A, as indication 206B to the thirdparticipant device 104C, and as indication 208B to the fourthparticipant device 104D. Similarly, the third channel participationindication 202C is distributed, in some embodiments, as indication 204Cto the first participant device 104A, as indication 206C to the thirdparticipant device 104C, and as indication 208C to the fourthparticipant device 104D. Similarly, the fourth channel participationindication 202D is distributed, in some embodiments, as indication 204Dto the first participant device 104A, as indication 206D to the thirdparticipant device 104C, and as indication 208D to the fourthparticipant device 104D. The fifth channel participation indication 202Eis distributed, in some embodiments, as indication 204E to the firstparticipant device 104A, as indication 206E to the third participantdevice 104C, and as indication 208E to the fourth participant device104D. The sixth channel participation indication 202F is distributed, insome embodiments, as indication 204F to the first participant device104A, as indication 206F to the third participant device 104C, and asindication 208F to the fourth participant device 104D.

In some embodiments, the indications provided to other participantdevices, such as the indications 204A-F provided to the firstparticipant device 104A, are used to provide visual indicators on a userinterface that communicates, to (such as) a participant logged into thecollaboration session via the first participant device 104A, a level ofparticipation in each of the channels by (for example) the participantlogged into the collaboration session via the second participant device104B.

FIG. 3A illustrates a relevant portion of a message format in accordancewith an example embodiment. FIG. 3A shows a first message format 300 ofa message that communicates channel participation information from aparticipant device to a collaboration system. For example, the channelparticipation information 202A-F of FIG. 2 is indicated, in someembodiments, via one or more of the fields discussed below with respectto the first message format 300. The first message format 300 includes amessage type field 302, a collaboration session identifier field 303, aparticipant identifier field 304, a first channel participationindicator 306A, second channel participation indicator 306B, a thirdchannel participation indicator 306C, a fourth channel participationindicator 306D, a fifth channel participation indicator 306E, or a sixthchannel participation indicator 306F, a mute indicator 314, a videoinput disabled indicator 316, and a device type indicator 318. While thefirst message format 300 illustrates the use of six channelparticipation indicators, other embodiments of the first message format300 include zero or more channel participation indicators. For example,in some embodiments, a message includes no channel participationindicators and only a mode indicator, indicating a mode in which thedevice is operating. Example modes of participation are discussed belowwith respect to FIG. 4 .

The message type field 302 identifies, via a predefined identifier, thata message including the message type field 302 has a format consistentwith the first message format 300. The collaboration session identifierfield 303 stores a value that uniquely identifies a particularcollaboration session between a plurality of participantdevices/participants. The participant identifier field 304 identifies aparticular participant device/participant included in the collaborationsession. Each of the channel indicators, such as the first channelparticipation indicator 306A, second channel participation indicator306B, third channel participation indicator 306C, the fourth channelparticipation indicator 306D, the fifth channel participation indicator306E, or the sixth channel participation indicator 306F, indicatewhether the participant (identified by the participant identifier 304)intends or is otherwise able to participate in a channel of thecollaboration session corresponding to the respective indicator. Thus,for example, any one or more of the channel participation indications202A-F of FIG. 2 is indicated, in some embodiments, via the firstchannel participation indicator 306A, second channel participationindicator 306B, third channel participation indicator 306C, the fourthchannel participation indicator 306D, the fifth channel participationindicator 306E, or the sixth channel participation indicator 306F,respectively.

The mute indicator 314 communicates whether the participant (identifiedvia participant identifier field 304) has disabled their ability togenerate an audio input signal (e.g. a traditional mute function). Notethat FIG. 3A demonstrates a distinction between, for example, anindication of whether a collaboration participant is able or intends tospeak or otherwise generate an audio signal during a collaborationsession, and a separate indication of whether that participant hasdisabled their ability, e.g., via the participant device they are usingto engage in the collaboration session, to generate an audio inputsignal. (e.g. “muted” their microphone). The video input disabledindicator 316 indicates whether the participant has at least temporarilydisabled, via a user interface control of the collaboration session,their ability to generate a video input signal to the collaborationserver 102 (e.g. to then be displayed to other collaborationparticipants/devices). Again, FIG. 3A demonstrates a distinction betweenan indication that a participant is able or intends to participate inproviding a video input signal as part of attending the collaborationsession, and the participant actively disabling generation of an inputvideo signal during the collaboration session. The device type indicator318 indicates a type of device the participant (identified by theparticipant identifier field 304) is using to engage in thecollaboration session (identified by the collaboration sessionidentifier field 303). While some embodiments derive indications ofchannels in which a participant will participate based on the devicetype indicator 318, the device type indicator 318 is separate anddistinct from the channel participation indicators, such as any of thefirst channel participation indicator 306A, second channel participationindicator 306B, third channel participation indicator 306C, the fourthchannel participation indicator 306D, a fifth channel participationindicator 306E, or a sixth channel participation indicator 306F. Whilethe first message format 300 discussed above with respect to FIG. 3Aillustrates the indication of one or more channel indications, (e.g. thefirst channel participation indicator 306A, etc.), some otherembodiments in addition or alternatively to the channel indicators,communicate one or more indications of participation “modes” whichgenerally indicate, in at least some embodiments, settings for multiplechannels of communication between a collaboration system and aparticipant or participant device. Example modes of participation arediscussed below with respect to FIG. 4 . Thus, the techniques presentedherein may involve establishing a communication session with aparticipant device, displaying via the communication session a userinterface, and receiving input from the user interface such that theindication of participation is derived from the input received via theuser interface.

A message containing information depicted by the first message format300 is transmitted, in some embodiments, by a participant device to thecollaboration server 102, in one or more of the following circumstances;when an invitation to a collaboration is acknowledged or accepted by theparticipant device, when a collaboration session is first initiated bythe collaboration server 102, or at any time during a collaboration whena participant determines that their level of participation in one ormore of the channels has changed.

FIG. 3B shows a second message format 350 in accordance with an exampleembodiment. The second message format 350 defines one embodiment of anetwork message transmitted by the collaboration server 102 to one ormore participant devices. The network message communicates, to a firstparticipant device/participant, participation across a plurality ofchannels of a collaboration session by other participantdevices/participants. Thus, for example, the indications 206A-F areprovided, in some embodiments, via a message in accordance with thesecond message format 350 to the third participant device 104C by thecollaboration server 102. The second message format 350 provides for thecommunication of channel participation of a plurality of participantsvia a single message or at least a single message format. Thus, forexample, via a message in accordance with the second message format 350,a participant device is provided with indications of participation byone or more other participant devices, across a plurality of channels ofa collaboration session.

The second message format 350 includes a message type field 352, acollaboration session identifier field 353, and a number of participantsfield 354. The message type field 352 includes a predefined identifierthat identifies a message as having the second message format 350. Thecollaboration session identifier field 353 identifies a collaborationsession to which the message pertains. The number of participants field354 identifies a number of participant records 326 included in themessage having the second message format 350. The second message format350 then includes one or more of the participant record 326 based on avalue of the number of participants field 354 (e.g. one participantrecord for each participant). Each participant record includes aparticipant identifier field 355, first channel participation indicator356A, second channel participation indicator 356B, third channelparticipation indicator 356C, a fourth channel participation indicator356D, a fifth channel participation indicator 356E, and a sixth channelparticipation indicator 356F. The number of channel participationindicators varies by embodiment and by how many separate channels ofparticipation are supported in a particular collaboration session. Thesefields then repeat in the second message format 350 based on the numberof participants field 354. A last example participant record 366 isshown, and includes a participant identifier field 372, a first channelparticipation indicator 374A, second channel participation indicator374B, third channel participation indicator 374C, a fourth channelparticipation indicator 374D, a fifth channel participation indicator374E, and a sixth channel participation indicator 374F.

A message containing information depicted by the second message format350 is transmitted by the collaboration server 102 to one or moreparticipant devices, in some embodiments, when one or more of aninvitation to the collaboration is accepted, denied or otherwiseacknowledged by a collaboration participant, when a new participantjoins a collaboration (and the message informs other devices of whichchannels the new participant will be participating in), or when aparticipant changes a level of participation in the collaborationsession.

While the second message format 350 discussed above with respect to FIG.3B illustrates the indication of one or more channel indications, (e.g.the first channel participation indicator 356A, etc.), some otherembodiments of the second message format 350, in addition or alternativeto the channel indicators, communicate one or more indications ofparticipation “modes” which generally indicate, in at least someembodiments, settings for multiple channels of communication between acollaboration system and a participant or participant device. Examplemodes of participation are discussed below with respect to FIG. 4 .Thus, for example, some embodiments of the second message format 350include zero or more channel participation indicators and communicateone or more participation modes, with the participation modes definingthe participation in each of the channels between the participant deviceand collaboration server(s).

FIG. 4 is a table showing collaboration participation modes defined bycombinations of channel participation settings in accordance with anexample embodiment. The table 400 includes multiple columns includingchannel data type 402A, input or output indicator 402B, a mute mode402C, a video disabled mode 402D, a listen only mode 402E, a no sharingmode 402F, a no viewing mode 402G, a degraded audio environment mode402H, and a no video mode 402I. The modes identified in FIG. 4 areexamples and the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the modeslisted in FIG. 4 . Furthermore, there is no requirement for anyembodiment to support any of the modes listed in FIG. 4 .

Table 400 also lists a plurality of channels, one or more of which aresupported by some of the disclosed embodiments. These include a videoinput channel 404A (provided by a participant device to thecollaboration server 102), video output channel 404B (provided to aparticipant device by the collaboration server 102), an audio inputchannel 404C (provided by a participant device to the collaborationserver 102), an audio output channel 404D (provided to a participantdevice by the collaboration server 102), a document input channel 404E(e.g. a document sharing channel provided by a participant devicesharing a document to the collaboration server 102), and a documentoutput channel 404F (provided by the collaboration server 102 to aparticipant device to allow the participant device to view a shareddocument).

Cells of the table 400 indicate settings for particular channels in thegiven modes. The cells can indicate a plurality of different values. Forexample, a value of “not participating” indicates that the participanthas indicated they will not be participating in the channel (eitherproviding content or consuming content, depending on whether the channelis an input channel or an output channel) during a collaborationsession. This value is, in some embodiments, updatable during thecollaboration session by the participant, or automatically under someconditions and in certain embodiments.

A value of “disabled” indicates the participant has temporarily disabledtheir participation in the channel. “Disabled” differs from “notparticipating” in that disabled relates, generally, to a participantactively disabling a portion of hardware included in their participantdevice, such as a microphone or camera, such that no content is provideby the hardware. Not participating is a more general indication that theparticipant does not intend to provide any content (for input channels)or consume any content (for output channels) of the channel during thecollaboration session, or for a given finite period of time (specifiedby the participant) during the collaboration session.

“Participating but degraded” indicates that the participant isparticipating in the channel, but expects a quality level of theirparticipation is likely degraded relative to a nominal level. As“participating but degraded” can apply both to input channels or outputchannels, when applied to an output channel, participating but degradedindicates the participant may have difficulty understanding contentprovided over the channel.

If a cell in table 400 is blank, this indicates the mode does not definea participation level of the respective channel. Thus, table 400defines, for example, that a mute mode 402C disables an audio inputchannel, and has no effect on any other channel (e.g. an empty cell intable 400 indicates the mode does not affect the given channel). Thelisten only mode 402E indicates that the collaboration participant isparticipating in the audio output channel 404D, but is not participatingin any other of the channels listed in table 400. The video disabledmode 402D indicates that the participant's video input channel isdisabled, but has no effect on any other channel. The no sharing mode402F defines that the participant is not participating in a documentinput channel (e.g. the participant's device does not provide documentinformation for sharing with other participants to the collaborationserver 102), but does not define a status of other channels. The noviewing mode 402G defines that the participant is not participating inthe document output channel 404F, but does not define a status of otherchannels. The degraded audio environment mode 402H indicates that boththe audio input channel 404C and audio output channel 404D have aprobability of experiencing degradation relative to nominal performance,but the participant is attempting to participate at least in thosechannels. The no video mode 402I indicates the participant is notparticipating in either the video input channel 404A or the video outputchannel 404B.

FIG. 5 illustrates a user interface (screen) displaying channelparticipation information for a plurality of participants in accordancewith an example embodiment. The user interface 500 is displayed on aparticipant device of a participant of a collaboration session. The userinterface 500 is shown displaying a primary video feed 501 to theparticipant via the participant device. In some embodiments, thecollaboration server 102 causes presentation of the user interface 500on the participant device. Within the primary video feed 501, there isdisplayed or overlaid a number of different secondary video feeds ofother participants participating in the collaboration session. Thesesecondary video feeds are shown along the bottom of the user interface500 as video feed 520A, video feed 520B (shown in a minimized view),video feed 520C, video feed 520D, video feed 520E, and video feed 520F.In some embodiments, the primary video feed 501 displays a participantthat is currently speaking, and the secondary video feeds showparticipants not currently speaking.

Since the collaboration session illustrated in FIG. 5 includes arelatively large number of participants, all participant video feedscannot be shown within the primary video feed 501. A participant list530 is shown as a right pane of the user interface 500. The participantlist 530 provides access to participants of the collaboration session,whether or not they are shown in a secondary feed. Various status iconsare displayed proximate to a name of a participant within theparticipant list 530. The status icons indicate status of theparticipant's participation in one or more channels of the collaborationsession. For example, a first participant 531 is shown with two icons, afirst icon 532A and a second icon 532B. The first icon 532A indicatesthat the first participant 531 is providing video input data to thecollaboration session. The second icon 532B indicates that the firstparticipant 531 is providing audio input data to the collaborationsession (e.g. the first participant 531 is not muted). A secondparticipant 533 also is shown with two icons. A third icon 534Aindicates, similar to the first icon 532A, that the second participantis providing a video input channel to the collaboration session. Afourth icon 534B indicates that the second participant 533 hastemporarily disabled their audio input channel (e.g. the secondparticipant is muted).

A third participant 535 is also shown within the participant list 530.An icon 536A indicates that the third participant 535 is in a “listenonly” mode, such as the listen only mode 402E of FIG. 4 . Similarly, afourth participant 540 and fifth participant 542 are also in a “listenonly” mode, as indicated by the icon 536B and icon 536C respectively.FIG. 5 shows a sixth participant 544 in a no viewing mode via an icon546, analogous to the no viewing mode 402G discussed above with respectto FIG. 4 . As noted in FIG. 5 , the sixth participant 544 is drivingand is thus not able to remain safe while driving and also view thepresentation. A seventh participant 548 is shown muted via icon 550.

Thus, the user interface 500 of FIG. 5 demonstrates that someembodiments display, to a participant of a collaboration session, aparticipation mode of one or more other participants of thecollaboration session. The participation mode corresponds, in someembodiments, to one or more of the participation modes discussed abovewith respect to FIG. 4 and the table 400. In some embodiments, such asthe user interface 500, each mode expressed by a participant iscommunicated to the participant in the user interface 500 via adifferent icon.

FIG. 6 is a user interface displaying a collaboration invitationacceptance that includes channel participation information, inaccordance with an example embodiment. The user interface 600demonstrates that at least in some of the disclosed embodiments, aparticipation mode, or channels of a collaboration session in which aparticipant will be participating, are communicated to the collaborationserver 102 in a response to an invitation to the collaboration session.Thus, FIG. 6 shows the user interface 600 is an acceptance of aninvitation to a collaboration session. The user interface 600 includes aparticipation message 610, which indicates, that the participant will beattending the collaboration session in a “listen only” mode (e.g.,analogous to the listen only mode 402E of FIG. 4 ). Various embodimentsindicate any one of the participation modes identified in the table 400,or other modes, in a response to an invitation to a collaborationsession. In some embodiments, the user interface 600 is displayed inresponse to receiving a message, from the participant, substantially inconformance with (or at least including one or more of the fields of)the first message format 300 discussed above with respect to FIG. 3A.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method of communicating channel participationinformation in accordance with an example embodiment. In someembodiments, the method 700 is performed by the collaboration server102. Generally, some embodiments of the method 700 provide forcommunication of participation indications to one or more participantsof a collaboration session. Each participant indicates, in someembodiments, their intentions to participate in one or morecommunication channels of the collaboration session. These intentionsare then communicated to other participants of the collaborationsession. Thus, each participant receives an indication of otherparticipants participation in each of a plurality of channels ofcommunication supported by the collaboration session.

In operation 710, a collaboration session with a plurality ofparticipants is scheduled or initiated. The collaboration session isconfigured to share information between the participants via acorresponding plurality of participant devices. Additionally, thecollaboration session is configured to share information between theparticipant devices via a plurality of channels. The plurality ofchannels includes any of the example channels discussed above, such as avideo input channel, video output channel, audio input channel, audiooutput channel, a document sharing channel, a document viewing channel,a chat input channel, or a chat output channel.

Scheduling a collaboration session includes, in some embodiments,sending invitations to the plurality of participant devices. Thedisclosed embodiments contemplate a variety of invitation forms, butsome invitations include email messages addressed to email addresses ofthe potential participants. The invitations also, at least in someembodiments, specify a proposed date and time of the collaborationsession.

Initiating a collaboration session includes, in some embodiments,establishing a communication session with each participant device of theplurality of participant devices. In some embodiments, establishing thecommunication session includes exchanging authentication informationwith each participant device to identify and/or validate theparticipant.

In operation 720, an indication of participation in each of theplurality of channels of the collaboration session is received from afirst participant device of the plurality of participant devices. Thus,in some embodiments, a response to the invitation discussed above isreceived in operation 720, and the indication is included in theresponse. In some other embodiments, the indication is provided by thefirst participant device via a communication session established inoperation 710. For example, some embodiments provide a user interface toa participant that allows the participant to indicate which channels theparticipant will be participating in, and/or allow the participate toselect a mode of participation, e.g. analogous to the modes ofparticipation discussed above with respect to FIG. 4 .

In some embodiments, the indication of participation includes one ormore of the fields discussed above with respect to the first messageformat 300 of FIG. 3A. In some embodiments, the indication ofparticipation indicates one of the modes discussed above with respect toFIG. 4 , such as the mute mode 402C, video disabled mode 402D, listenonly mode 402E, no sharing mode 402F, no viewing mode 402G, degradedaudio environment mode 402H, or the no video mode 402I.

Operation 730 provides or otherwise indicates, to a second participantdevice of the plurality of participant devices, the indication ofparticipation, by the first participant device, in one or more of theplurality of channels. In some embodiments, operation 730 transmits orotherwise communicates a network message to the second participantdevice, with the network message indicating the indication ofparticipation. For example, some embodiments of the network messageinclude one or more fields of the second message format 350, discussedabove with respect to FIG. 3B. In some embodiments, the network messageindicates, for one or more of the participants of the collaborationsession, one or more of the participation modes discussed above withrespect to FIG. 4 . Some embodiments of operation 730 cause aparticipant device to display a user interface analogous to the userinterface 500. For example, some embodiments cause display of an iconwithin the user interface denoting participation of one or moreparticipants in one or more of the plurality of channels. For example,in some embodiments, the user interface 500 is displayed as a web pagein a browser application. In these embodiments, the collaboration server102 provides data defining the user interface 500 to the participantdevice. The browser, running on the participant device, then displaysthe user interface 500 per the provided data. In other embodiments, theuser interface 500 is displayed by an application running locally on theparticipant device. In these embodiments, the collaboration server 102provides data (e.g. indications of participation of one or moreparticipants, secondary video feeds, etc.) used by the local applicationto display the user interface 500.

Some embodiments of operation 730 display an indication of the firstparticipant in a collaboration user interface that is displayable priorto a collaboration session being initiated. For example, someembodiments provide a user interface that allows a participant to acollaboration session to review invitation status of other participants.The invitation status indicates, in some embodiments, the indication ofparticipation by each participant that has responded to the invitationto the collaboration session. Alternatively, some embodiments ofoperation 730 display a user interface analogous to the user interface600 discussed above with respect to FIG. 6 . As discussed above, theuser interface 600 is displayed, in at least some embodiments, to acollaboration host upon receiving a response to an invitation to acollaboration session.

Some embodiments of method 700 detect a primary language of thecollaboration session. For example, input audio channels provided by theparticipants in the collaboration session are analyzed by a naturallanguage detection algorithm, in some embodiments, and perform spokenlanguage identification (LID). An indication of participation of one ormore participants is then determined based on the identified languagetype (e.g. English, Spanish, Mandarin, French, German, etc.). Forexample, some embodiments maintain profile information of eachparticipant, with the profile information indicating one or morelanguage types in which the participant is conversant and/or a nativespeaker. The detected language type is then evaluated against theprofile language information to determine if it is likely theparticipant can: 1) understand the primary language, and/or 2) speak theprimary language. Channels of participation are then set, in someembodiments, automatically or without human intervention, based on theevaluation. For example, if a participant is able to understand theprimary language, some embodiments indicate that the participant willparticipate in an audio output channel of the collaboration session,otherwise, some of these embodiment indicate the participant will notparticipate in the audio output channel. If method 700 determines theparticipant is unable to speak the primary language, but is able tounderstand the primary language, some embodiments indicate theparticipant will participate in an audio output channel of thecollaboration session, but will not participant in an audio inputchannel of the collaboration session.

FIG. 8 is a hardware block diagram of a device 800 that may performfunctions associated with operations discussed herein in connection withthe techniques depicted in any one or more of FIGS. 1-7 . In variousembodiments, any of the devices described above (e.g., a client deviceor a collaboration server) implement, in some embodiments, a computingarchitecture analogous to that described below with respect to thedevice 800.

In at least one embodiment, the device 800 may include one or moreprocessor(s) 802, one or more memory element(s)804, storage 806, a bus808, one or more network processor unit(s) 810 interconnected with oneor more network input/output (I/O) interface(s) 812, one or more I/Ointerface(s) 814, and control logic 820. In various embodiments,instructions associated with logic for device 800 can overlap in anymanner and are not limited to the specific allocation of instructionsand/or operations described herein.

In at least one embodiment, processor(s) 802 is/are at least onehardware processor configured to execute various tasks, operationsand/or functions for device 800 as described herein according tosoftware and/or instructions configured for device 800. Processor(s) 802(e.g., a hardware processor) can execute any type of instructionsassociated with data to achieve the operations detailed herein. In oneexample, processor(s) 802 can transform an element or an article (e.g.,data, information) from one state or thing to another state or thing.Any of potential processing elements, microprocessors, digital signalprocessor, baseband signal processor, modem, physical layer (PHY),controllers, systems, managers, logic, and/or machines described hereincan be construed as being encompassed within the broad term ‘processor’.

In at least one embodiment, memory element(s) 804 and/or storage 806is/are configured to store data, information, software, and/orinstructions associated with device 800, and/or logic configured formemory element(s) 804 and/or storage 806. For example, any logicdescribed herein (e.g., control logic 820) can, in various embodiments,be stored for device 800 using any combination of memory element(s) 804and/or storage 806. Note that in some embodiments, storage 806 can beconsolidated with memory element(s) 804 (or vice versa), or canoverlap/exist in any other suitable manner.

In at least one embodiment, bus 808 can be configured as an interfacethat enables one or more elements of device 800 to communicate in orderto exchange information and/or data. Bus 808 can be implemented with anyarchitecture designed for passing control, data and/or informationbetween processors, memory elements/storage, peripheral devices, and/orany other hardware and/or software components that may be configured fordevice 800. In at least one embodiment, bus 808 may be implemented as afast kernel-hosted interconnect, potentially using shared memory betweenprocesses (e.g., logic), which can enable efficient communication pathsbetween the processes.

In various embodiments, network processor unit(s) 810 may enablecommunication between device 800 and other systems, devices, orentities, via network I/O interface(s) 812 (wired and/or wireless) tofacilitate operations discussed for various embodiments describedherein. In various embodiments, network processor unit(s) 810 can beconfigured as a combination of hardware and/or software, such as one ormore Ethernet driver(s) and/or controller(s) or interface cards, FibreChannel (e.g., optical) driver(s) and/or controller(s), wirelessreceivers/transmitters/transceivers, baseband processor(s)/modem(s),and/or other similar network interface driver(s) and/or controller(s)now known or hereafter developed to enable communications between device800 and other systems, devices, or entities to facilitate operations forvarious embodiments described herein. In various embodiments, networkI/O interface(s) 812 can be configured as one or more Ethernet port(s),Fibre Channel ports, any other I/O port(s), and/or antenna(s)/antennaarray(s) now known or hereafter developed. Thus, the network processorunit(s) 810 and/or network I/O interface(s) 812 may include suitableinterfaces for receiving, transmitting, and/or otherwise communicatingdata and/or information in a network environment.

I/O interface(s) 814 allow for input and output of data and/orinformation with other entities that may be connected to device 800. Forexample, I/O interface(s) 814 may provide a connection to externaldevices such as a display, keyboard, keypad, a touch screen, a camera, amicrophone, and/or any other suitable input and/or output device nowknown or hereafter developed. This may be the case, in particular, whenthe device 800 serves as a user device described herein. In someinstances, external devices can also include portable computer readable(non-transitory) storage media such as database systems, thumb drives,portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards. In still someinstances, external devices can be a mechanism to display data to auser, such as, for example, a computer monitor, a display screen, suchas display, particularly when the device 800 serves as a user device asdescribed herein.

In various embodiments, control logic 820 can include instructions that,when executed, cause processor(s) 802 to perform operations, which caninclude, but not be limited to, providing overall control operations ofcomputing device; interacting with other entities, systems, etc.described herein; maintaining and/or interacting with stored data,information, parameters, etc. (e.g., memory element(s), storage, datastructures, databases, tables, etc.); combinations thereof, and/or thelike to facilitate various operations for embodiments described herein.

The programs described herein (e.g., control logic 820) may beidentified based upon application(s) for which they are implemented in aspecific embodiment. However, it should be appreciated that anyparticular program nomenclature herein is used merely for convenience;thus, embodiments herein should not be limited to use(s) solelydescribed in any specific application(s) identified and/or implied bysuch nomenclature.

In various embodiments, entities as described herein may storedata/information in any suitable volatile and/or non-volatile memoryitem (e.g., magnetic hard disk drive, solid state hard drive,semiconductor storage device, random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM),application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.), software, logic(fixed logic, hardware logic, programmable logic, analog logic, digitallogic), hardware, and/or in any other suitable component, device,element, and/or object as may be appropriate. Any of the memory itemsdiscussed herein should be construed as being encompassed within thebroad term ‘memory element’. Data/information being tracked and/or sentto one or more entities as discussed herein could be provided in anydatabase, table, register, list, cache, storage, and/or storagestructure: all of which can be referenced at any suitable timeframe. Anysuch storage options may also be included within the broad term ‘memoryelement’ as used herein.

Note that in certain example implementations, operations as set forthherein may be implemented by logic encoded in one or more tangible mediathat is capable of storing instructions and/or digital information andmay be inclusive of non-transitory tangible media and/or non-transitorycomputer readable storage media (e.g., embedded logic provided in: anASIC, digital signal processing (DSP) instructions, software[potentially inclusive of object code and source code], etc.) forexecution by one or more processor(s), and/or other similar machine,etc. Generally, memory element(s) 804 and/or storage 806 can store data,software, code, instructions (e.g., processor instructions), logic,parameters, combinations thereof, and/or the like used for operationsdescribed herein. This includes memory element(s) 804 and/or storage 806being able to store data, software, code, instructions (e.g., processorinstructions), logic, parameters, combinations thereof, or the like thatare executed to carry out operations in accordance with teachings of thepresent disclosure.

In some instances, software of the present embodiments may be availablevia a non-transitory computer useable medium (e.g., magnetic or opticalmediums, magneto-optic mediums, compact disc (CD) read only memory (ROM)(CD-ROM), digital video disc (DVD), memory devices, etc.) of astationary or portable program product apparatus, downloadable file(s),file wrapper(s), object(s), package(s), container(s), and/or the like.In some instances, non-transitory computer readable storage media mayalso be removable. For example, a removable hard drive may be used formemory/storage in some implementations. Other examples may includeoptical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, and smart cards that can beinserted and/or otherwise connected to a computing device for transferonto another computer readable storage medium.

Variations and Implementations

Embodiments described herein may include one or more networks, which canrepresent a series of points and/or network elements of interconnectedcommunication paths for receiving and/or transmitting messages (e.g.,packets of information) that propagate through the one or more networks.These network elements offer communicative interfaces that facilitatecommunications between the network elements. A network can include anynumber of hardware and/or software elements coupled to (and incommunication with) each other through a communication medium. Suchnetworks can include, but are not limited to, any local area network(LAN), virtual LAN (VLAN), wide area network (WAN) (e.g., the Internet),software defined WAN (SD-WAN), wireless local area (WLA) access network,wireless wide area (WWA) access network, metropolitan area network(MAN), Intranet, Extranet, virtual private network (VPN), Low PowerNetwork (LPN), Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN), Machine to Machine(M2M) network, Internet of Things (IoT) network, Ethernetnetwork/switching system, any other appropriate architecture and/orsystem that facilitates communications in a network environment, and/orany suitable combination thereof.

Networks through which communications propagate can use any suitabletechnologies for communications including wireless communications (e.g.,fourth generation (4G)/fifth generation (5G)/next generation (nG), anIEEE 802.11 (e.g., Wi-Fi®/Wi-Fi6®), IEEE 802.15 (e.g. Wireless PersonalArea Networks (WPAN)), IEEE 802.16 (e.g., Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX)), Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), NearField Communication (NFC), Bluetooth™, millimeter (mm).wave,Ultra-Wideband (UWB), etc.), and/or wired communications (e.g., T1lines, T3 lines, digital subscriber lines (DSL), Ethernet, FibreChannel, etc.). Generally, any suitable means of communications may beused such as but not limited to electric, sound, light, infrared,qubits, and/or radio to facilitate communications through one or morenetworks in accordance with embodiments herein. Communications,interactions, operations, etc. as discussed for various embodimentsdescribed herein may be performed among entities that may directly orindirectly connected utilizing any algorithms, communication protocols,interfaces, etc. (proprietary and/or non-proprietary) that allow for theexchange of data and/or information.

Communications in a network environment can be referred to herein as‘messages’, ‘messaging’, ‘signaling’, ‘data’, ‘content’, ‘objects’,‘requests’, ‘queries’, ‘responses’, ‘replies’, etc. which may beinclusive of packets. As referred to herein and in the claims, the term‘packet’ may be used in a generic sense to include packets, frames,segments, datagrams, and/or any other generic units that may be used totransmit communications in a network environment. Generally, a packet isa formatted unit of data that can contain control or routing information(e.g., source and destination address, source and destination port,etc.) and data, which is also sometimes referred to as a ‘payload’,‘data payload’, and variations thereof. In some embodiments, control orrouting information, management information, or the like can be includedin packet fields, such as within header(s) and/or trailer(s) of packets.Internet Protocol (IP) addresses discussed herein and in the claims caninclude any IP version 4 (IPv4) and/or IP version 6 (IPv6) addresses.

To the extent that embodiments presented herein relate to the storage ofdata, the embodiments may employ any number of any conventional or otherdatabases, data stores or storage structures (e.g., files, databases,data structures, data or other repositories, etc.) to store information.

Note that in this Specification, references to various features (e.g.,elements, structures, nodes, modules, components, engines, logic, steps,operations, functions, characteristics, etc.) included in ‘oneembodiment’, ‘example embodiment’, ‘an embodiment’, ‘anotherembodiment’, ‘certain embodiments’, ‘some embodiments’, ‘variousembodiments’, ‘other embodiments’, ‘alternative embodiment’, and thelike are intended to mean that any such features are included in one ormore embodiments of the present disclosure, but may or may notnecessarily be combined in the same embodiments. Note also that amodule, engine, client, controller, function, logic or the like as usedherein in this Specification, can be inclusive of an executable filecomprising instructions that can be understood and processed on aserver, computer, processor, machine, compute node, combinationsthereof, or the like and may further include library modules loadedduring execution, object files, system files, hardware logic, softwarelogic, or any other executable modules.

It is also noted that the operations and steps described with referenceto the preceding figures illustrate only some of the possible scenariosthat may be executed by one or more entities discussed herein. Some ofthese operations may be deleted or removed where appropriate, or thesesteps may be modified or changed considerably without departing from thescope of the presented concepts. In addition, the timing and sequence ofthese operations may be altered considerably and still achieve theresults taught in this disclosure. The preceding operational flows havebeen offered for purposes of example and discussion. Substantialflexibility is provided by the embodiments in that any suitablearrangements, chronologies, configurations, and timing mechanisms may beprovided without departing from the teachings of the discussed concepts.

As used herein, unless expressly stated to the contrary, use of thephrase ‘at least one of’, ‘one or more of’, ‘and/or’, variationsthereof, or the like are open-ended expressions that are bothconjunctive and disjunctive in operation for any and all possiblecombination of the associated listed items. For example, each of theexpressions ‘at least one of X, Y and Z’, ‘at least one of X, Y or Z’,‘one or more of X, Y and Z’, ‘one or more of X, Y or Z’ and ‘X, Y and/orZ’ can mean any of the following: 1) X, but not Y and not Z; 2) Y, butnot X and not Z; 3) Z, but not X and not Y; 4) X and Y, but not Z; 5) Xand Z, but not Y; 6) Y and Z, but not X; or 7) X, Y, and Z.

Additionally, unless expressly stated to the contrary, the terms‘first’, ‘second’, ‘third’, etc., are intended to distinguish theparticular nouns they modify (e.g., element, condition, node, module,activity, operation, etc.). Unless expressly stated to the contrary, theuse of these terms is not intended to indicate any type of order, rank,importance, temporal sequence, or hierarchy of the modified noun. Forexample, ‘first X’ and ‘second X’ are intended to designate two ‘X’elements that are not necessarily limited by any order, rank,importance, temporal sequence, or hierarchy of the two elements. Furtheras referred to herein, ‘at least one of and’ one or more of can berepresented using the ‘(s)’ nomenclature (e.g., one or more element(s)).

In one form, a method is provided that comprises scheduling orinitiating a collaboration session with a plurality of participants, thecollaboration session configured to share information with acorresponding plurality of participant devices via a plurality ofchannels, receiving, from a first participant device of the plurality ofparticipant devices, an indication of participation, by a firstparticipant associated with the first participant device, in each of theplurality of channels, and providing, to a second participant device ofthe plurality of participant devices, the indication of participation,by the first participant, in each of the plurality of channels, thesecond participant device associated with a second participant.

In another form, an apparatus is provided that comprises a networkinterface configured to enable network communications, one or moreprocessors, and one or more memories storing instructions that whenexecuted configure the one or more processors to perform operationscomprising scheduling or initiating a collaboration session with aplurality of participants, the collaboration session configured to shareinformation with a corresponding plurality of participant devices via aplurality of channels, receiving, from a first participant device of theplurality of participant devices, an indication of participation, by afirst participant associated with the first participant device, in eachof the plurality of channels, and providing, to a second participantdevice of the plurality of participant devices, the indication ofparticipation, by the first participant, in each of the plurality ofchannels, the second participant device associated with a secondparticipant.

The methods presented herein may be embodied in a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium comprising instructions that whenexecuted configure one or more processors to perform the operations ofthe method.

One or more advantages described herein are not meant to suggest thatany one of the embodiments described herein necessarily provides all ofthe described advantages or that all the embodiments of the presentdisclosure necessarily provide any one of the described advantages.Numerous other changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and/ormodifications may be ascertained to one skilled in the art and it isintended that the present disclosure encompass all such changes,substitutions, variations, alterations, and/or modifications as fallingwithin the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A method comprising: scheduling or initiating acollaboration session with a plurality of participants, thecollaboration session configured to share information with acorresponding plurality of participant devices via a plurality ofchannels; receiving, from a first participant device of the plurality ofparticipant devices, an indication of participation, by a firstparticipant associated with the first participant device, in each of theplurality of channels; and providing, to a second participant device ofthe plurality of participant devices, the indication of participation,by the first participant, in each of the plurality of channels, thesecond participant device associated with a second participant.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the plurality of channels include two or moreof a document viewing channel, a document sharing channel, an audioinput channel, an audio output channel, a video input channel, a videooutput channel, a chat input channel, or a chat output channel.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the indication of participation is receivedin a response to an invitation to the collaboration session.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the providing of the indication ofparticipation comprises displaying an icon on a user interface on thesecond participant device, the icon based on the indication ofparticipation.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting aprimary language of the collaboration session; determining a secondindication of participation of the second participant based on theprimary language, and causing display, on the first participant device,an indication of the second indication of participation.
 6. The methodof claim 5, further comprising determining one or more languages of thesecond participant, and comparing the one or more languages to theprimary language, wherein the determining of the second indication ofparticipation is based on the comparing.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising providing, to each of the plurality of participants,an indication of other participants participation in the plurality ofchannels.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, fromthe first participant device, an indication of a duration of time duringwhich the indication of participation applies; and providing anindication of the duration to the second participant device.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: establishing a communicationsession with the first participant device; displaying, via thecommunication session, a user interface; and receiving input from theuser interface, wherein the indication of participation is derived fromthe input.
 10. An apparatus, comprising: a network interface configuredto enable network communications; one or more processors; and one ormore memories storing instructions that when executed configure the oneor more processors to perform operations comprising: scheduling orinitiating a collaboration session with a plurality of participants, thecollaboration session configured to share information with acorresponding plurality of participant devices via a plurality ofchannels; receiving, from a first participant device of the plurality ofparticipant devices, an indication of participation, by a firstparticipant associated with the first participant device, in each of theplurality of channels; and providing, to a second participant device ofthe plurality of participant devices, the indication of participation,by the first participant, in each of the plurality of channels, thesecond participant device associated with a second participant.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the plurality of channels include two ormore of a document viewing channel, a document sharing channel, an audioinput channel, an audio output channel, a video input channel, a videooutput channel, a chat input channel, or a chat output channel.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the indication of participation isreceived in a response to an invitation to the collaboration session.13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the providing of the indicationof participation comprises displaying an icon on a user interface on thesecond participant device, the icon based on the indication ofparticipation.
 14. The apparatus of claim 10, the operations furthercomprising: detecting a primary language of the collaboration session;determining a second indication of participation of the secondparticipant based on the primary language, and causing display, on thefirst participant device, an indication of the second indication ofparticipation.
 15. The apparatus of claim 10, the operations furthercomprising: establishing a communication session with the firstparticipant device; displaying, via the communication session, a userinterface; and receiving input from the user interface, wherein theindication of participation is derived from the input.
 16. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructionsthat when executed configure one or more processors to performoperations comprising: scheduling or initiating a collaboration sessionwith a plurality of participants, the collaboration session configuredto share information with a corresponding plurality of participantdevices via a plurality of channels; receiving, from a first participantdevice of the plurality of participant devices, an indication ofparticipation, by a first participant associated with the firstparticipant device, in each of the plurality of channels; and providing,to a second participant device of the plurality of participant devices,the indication of participation, by the first participant, in each ofthe plurality of channels, the second participant device associated witha second participant.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 16, wherein the plurality of channels include two ormore of a document viewing channel, a document sharing channel, an audioinput channel, an audio output channel, a video input channel, a videooutput channel, a chat input channel, or a chat output channel.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein theindication of participation is received in a response to an invitationto the collaboration session.
 19. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein the providing of the indication ofparticipation comprises displaying an icon on a user interface on thesecond participant device, the icon based on the indication ofparticipation.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof claim 16, the operations further comprising: receiving, from thefirst participant device, an indication of a duration of time duringwhich the indication of participation applies; and providing anindication of the duration to the second participant device.